Black Tiger commits suicide
Return of the death squads
FEARS that military death squads have become active again were renewed when the body of a youth bound and burned, was found in Bolgoda lake, 10 miles south of Colombo. In 1995 several bodies of Tamils were found in the same location. The 22 Special Task Force officers accused of the murders, currently on bail and active duty, failed to appear in court when the case was called on 12 December. Human rights activists say retired Tamil engineer Mahadeva, abducted in a white van in Colombo in December has not been traced.
Security was tightened in Colombo as 31 January, the first anniversary of the Central Bank bomb, approached. The government believes LTTE Black Tiger suicide squads are hidden among the 150,000 Tamil refugees from the north-east. Government-controlled Daily News says six Tiger intelligence cadre were arrested in Colombo and Vavuniya in mid-January. Police say there are some 50 Tiger operatives gathering intelligence on high-profile targets in Colombo, including senior ministers.
The police have sought information on eight Tamils, including alleged suicide bomber L Puvaneswary. Suspected Black Tiger Rajaratnam Ketheeswary took cyanide and committed suicide when police stopped her at Colombo’s Slave Island district on 31 January.
Jaffna youth S Balachandran who returned from Germany after 13 years in early January was held at the Crime Detection Bureau for a week. Jaffna bride Yogeswary was detained for three days along with her relatives when she arrived in Colombo for her wedding on 13 January. Three Tamils were arrested by the police at a bus stand in Kandy on 20 January and another two detained in Rattota. A Tamil nun working in an elders home in Bandaragama was taken into custody on 31 January.
Human rights agencies continue to express concern over prolonged detention and torture. The Supreme Court ordered the release of D Jeevakanthan and L Premraj who had been detained illegally in Kalutara for several months. Three others who had suffered severe torture in custody were also released by the Court in late January.
Taxi driver S Balakumar says in a fundamental rights application that he was detained in Colombo and Vavuniya for five months from February 1996. He alleges that continuous torture for 19 days in the custody of the Vavuniya Counter Subversive Unit has left him physically and psychologically scarred.
Tamil detainees in Kalutara prison launched a protest fast on 19 January demanding trial or release. Seventeen other prisoners held for over four years in Colombo Magazine prison agreed not to launch a similar protest after the Attorney-General’s Department agreed to act within three weeks. Detainees say this is the third promise given from the Department and the Defence Ministry and have little confidence in it.
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